The University of Cincinnati (UC) Medical Center's Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) activities center on hospitals of The Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati. These four hospitals (University Hospital, The Christ Hospital, St. Luke Hospitals, and The Jewish Hospitals) plus the Veterans Affairs Medical Center Hospital are the core of clinical cancer research activities that also extend to several affiliated institutions. Patients served by The Health Alliance are drawn from a large population base which includes a significant minority population. The UC SWOG program has dramatically increased its productivity since its inception six years ago. Specifically, their accruals have increased fourfold from 21 in 1992 to 85 in 1996. Over the same time period, minority accruals have risen from 1 to 25. This growth is partly a reflection of institutional support from UC (the Vice-Provost of Health Affairs, the Dean of the College of Medicine, Department of Medicine Chair, Hematology-Oncology Division Director) and from The Health Alliance. It is also a reflection of enthusiastic physician investigators committed to providing patients with state-of-the-art clinical care and opportunities for participation in NCI sponsored clinical research. The UC SWOG physician investigators are poised to continue significant creative contributions in protocol design and development and to contribute administratively in numerous committees. The major role of UC in the Pathology Discipline committee (including housing of the SWOG tumor bank at UC) further establishes University of Cincinnati's SWOG program as one with the resources and commitment to be an effective and productive SWOG member institution.